Umbilical cord blood donation

Save a life… by giving life !

Blood from the umbilical cord can be collected after your baby's birth and donated to the Héma-Québec Public Cord Blood Bank to help someone with a life-threatening disease.

Héma-Québec manages the only Public Cord Blood Bank in Québec and the first such bank in Canada. There are approximately 50 public cord blood banks worldwide.

Our Public Cord Blood Bank aims to make stem cells from umbilical cord blood a public resource and provide an optimal-quality supply that meets the needs of patients waiting for a stem cell transplant.

The Public Cord Blood Bank provides access to a complementary source of stem cells, other than those available in bone marrow and peripheral blood, and it is part of the Stem Cell Donor Registrythat we are managing.

Umbilical cord blood is collected at Héma-Québec’s partner hospitals with the consent of the mothers who have registered with the Bank. The collection of umbilical cord blood requires 3 to 5 minutes and is safe for the child and the mother. The cord blood is collected after the birth of the child, once the umbilical cord is cut, but before placental expulsion. The mother and the child feel no effect. If this cord blood is not collected, it is discarded as biomedical waste, as is the placenta.

The cord blood collected is treated and tested in our laboratories. If the cord blood sample meets all of the standards, we will freeze it until it is needed by a stem cell transplant candidate. Cord blood has a lifespan of at least 15 years when frozen.

The umbilical cord blood donations that do not qualify for the Bank will be stored for research purposes if the mothers involved give their consent.